WE BELIEVE IN CHANGE
SARA (Sharing America’s Resources Abroad) is a non-profit organization incorporated in Ohio. It is an ecumenical ministry affiliated with the Heartland Conference of the United Church of Christ. SARA distributes medical supplies, equipment and expertise throughout the world. SARA believes that by helping people to help themselves, and by giving them a boost towards self-sufficiency, the world will become a better place.
Resources to accomplish SARA’s mission come from volunteer participation and charitable donations provided by health-care providers, religious organizations, businesses, not-for-profit corporations and concerned individuals. SARA is particularly interested in working with other not-for-profit organizations who are seeking to serve others in the same way.
How S.A.R.A. Began
With One Child and One Doctor
A number of years ago Rev. Stephen Szilagyi was visiting in Hungary and saw a small child who needed surgery to correct scoliosis, curvature of the spine. The procedure was not available in Hungary but was done regularly in the U.S.
Rev. Szilagyi collected enough money to bring this young boy to the United States to receive the surgery he needed to straighten his back. But other children needed this operation, too.
Rev. Szilagyi realized that what was really needed was doctors trained in the U.S. to go back to Hungary to perform many operations. So he arranged for one physician to come the U.S. to be trained and for the equipment the surgeon would need to be sent to his hospital in Hungary. This was the way SARA began. Helping one child and one physician.
Today, the procedure to correct scoliosis is being done regularly in Hungary, and hundreds of children stand straight and tall because of it.
Since that beginning, more than $18 million of medical equipment and supplies have been sent to more than 10 countries.
During the past few years, dozens of physicians have received additional training in the United States through SARA.
From Habakkuk to SARA
SARA Director Steve Szilagyi publishes memoir
From Trafford Publishing website (www.trafford.com):
ABOUT THE BOOK
Reverend Stephen Szilagyi encounters a boy with a crooked back on a street corner in 1988 Communist-controlled Hungary. The events which follow inspire him to found the SARA ministry and to write this memoir: From Habakkuk to SARA.
Through his good works, not only one child but thousands have benefitted from the outpouring of medical equipment, supplies, and advanced medical techniques continuing to flow back to the region from which he escaped as a Hungarian refugee four decades earlier.
Intertwined with the story of SARA, Reverend Szilagyi’s life unfolds as he escapes from oppression in his homeland, becomes a pastor in America by a curious route, and serves congregations throughout the Midwest for over forty years.
He speaks of personal triumphs such as preaching at the White House in 1970 and accepting a medal from the President of Ukraine in 2008 for his humanitarian efforts. He also recounts heartaches and disappointments and, yes, miracles along the way. His memoir reflects not only an amazing life adventure but the loving presence of Christ in his ministry.
126 pages, paperback.
Copies are available in the Heartland Conference UCC office, 6161 Busch Blvd, Suite 95, Columbus OH 43229, 800-282-0740, ohioucc@ocucc.org.
Also available from the publisher at www.trafford.com and at www.amazon.com